Sunday, 4 December 2016

Something really silly happened to me at the clinic where I work. A client of ours came to the front desk and told me she had lost her plastic card. I issued a new one for her and off she went. A few minutes later another client returns a card and said, that she found it on the concrete of the parking lot. I find out it belongs to the client that just asked me for a replacement card. I call her, tell her she can pick it up and put the card safely in an envelope and wrote on it: "Belongs to so and so, lost it on the parking lot, coming in to pick it up, date and signed it".

The next day I am looking for the card and to my great despair I CANNOT find it. I let it go and think, what do I say when the client comes in and wants her card? A few days later we get mail from the USPS mailman and guess what? Yes, the envelope with the card in it is returned back to us, because they were not able to deliver it, ha ha. Of course not, it had my note on it instead of a delivery address but thankfully the envelope had our return address stamped on it. You can imagine how thankful I was to USPS and to my God.

Although I made a mistake and lost the card momentarily, God was watching over me and made sure the envelope was returned back to me. I was so glad that day and so relieved that God knows all the affairs of my life.

Saturday, 29 October 2016

It looks like our town had some extra money: They went ahead and coated the streets with a fresh layer of asphalt. Now all the cracks, pot holes, bumps and uneven places are buried underneath that coating and for the human eye everything looks like new. It's pleasant to drive on these roads again, everything is nice and smooth. A friend of mine commented that the layer of asphalt is not very thick and so after a few years he thinks that the cracks will surface again. But for now it's a quick fix to the problem.

Not so with the work of the Holy Spirit! He doesn't sugarcoat/cover up your hurts but rather exposes them to heal you. You can try to fix your problems with medication, isolation or psychology to name just a few, but if you surrender your life to the Lord He will heal you completely. He will reach down deep into your heart and bring healing and restoration. I have experienced it in my own life and in many other lives. It is liberating when once and for all you don't have to wear masks anymore or try to build up walls for your personal protection.

Allow the Lord to touch you today so that He can do a deep work in you and set you free to be the person He created you to be.

Monday, 10 October 2016

"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void,But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it"

(Isaiah 55:11 NKJV)

My Swiss friend Daniela told me last time when I visited her that she saw me flying frequently down to Florida where she now lives. It was such a word of hope and of comfort to me. For one I know she hears from the Lord and having to say goodbye to her and being separated from her is always hard for me. So I received that word by faith and tucked it safely in my heart.

Little did we know back then that there is a direct, inexpensive flight service available from Moline (the town next to where I live) to Orlando. Thanks to the successful baking season at the local Farmers Market I am able to fly to Florida today and celebrate Daniela's 40th Birthday. I call her my all-time, long-time forever friend. Believe it or not, she was only 18 and I 35 when we met in 1995!

God wants to bring you great joy, hope and encouragement because that's just who He is. So take His word, take His promise, tuck it safely in your heart and then wait upon Him. I know He will make a way for you."Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4 NKJV).
May you be enCOURAGED!!!-Suzanne Tanner

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25 NKJV)

Since I have been reading in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke one word has stood out to me over and over again: it is the word "immediately".

Now that I keep an eye on this word I am amazed to discover in some chapters that it is sometimes mentioned 7 or 8 times. As I was pondering about it and why it was used so many times, I asked the Lord for insight. God is the God of the immediate, the sudden and the here and now. Whenever He does something, it is immediately. When He called His disciples, they followed Him immediately. When He healed, it happened immediately.

As for me I am called to pay attention afresh to walk and live in the immediate and when God calls me that I respond immediately. I will not tarry or slumber or wait, but I am ready to move along with Him.

"And
Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”They immediately left their nets and followed Him.Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him" (Matthew 4:18-22 NKJV).

Friday, 30 September 2016

"And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there" (1 Kings 19: 1-3 NKJV).I had a situation that reminded me exactly of this account and how Elijah escaped from Jezebel. He did not engage, but ran away! I did the same.

A person confronted me via text message and I decided not to respond. In that moment I thought I was doing pretty good, since I did not respond to the unreasonable control/demand of that person. But because I did not engage, that person contacted me 2 more times! To be honest with you, I was afraid of her and did not want to engage because I did not know what to say. I thought just avoiding that person would be a smart way to go about, but that is not the way of warfare. You have to engage even if it means just a short acknowledgement like in my case I could have responded with "I got this". As simple as that and my counterpart would have not bothered or bugged me any longer.

I definitely learned my lesson that day and I am now prepared to engage especially in difficult / tricky situations.

Also Paul writes in Romans 12:20 how to engage by referring to Proverbs 25: 21-22:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;If he is thirsty, give him a drink;For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good".